ESPN reportedly doesn't want anyone talking about the political situation in Hong Kong

Daryl Morey.
(Image credit: Bob Levey/Getty Images)

The NBA wasn't quite sure what to do with itself after Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets' general manager, sent a now-deleted tweet in support of Hong Kong's pro-democracy, anti-Beijing protest movement. And it appears that ESPN is looking to avoid a similar fate.

Deadspin obtained a memo from Chuck Salituro, the senior news director of ESPN, which discouraged the network's staff from mentioning the politics surrounding the protest movement, meaning that any discussion about the Morey situation would have to be relegated to talk about how it affects the basketball landscape. Multiple ESPN sources reportedly confirmed to Deadspin that the network's executives were keeping watch over how on-air personalities were discussing the topic.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.